Gas-blood Pco2 and Po2 equilibration in a steady-state rebreathing dog preparation

Alveolar gas and mixed venous blood PCO2 and PO2 were compared in a steady-state rebreathing dog preparation, during spontaneous breathing and mechanical ventilation, by a new null-balancing method that removes potential biases in the comparison of measurements in the blood and gas phases and includes an inert gas test to verify the equilibration between the rebreathing lung and the bag. No systematic PCO2 and PO2 differences were observed under equilibrium conditions. However, inert gas studies suggested that a high percentage of measurements obtained during spontaneous breathing were unreliable because of inadequate equilibration between blood and rebreathing bag (attributable to reduced ventilation or perfusion) and that all mechanical ventilation measurements were acceptable. The present data support the view that no PCO2 or PO2 gradients exist when the pulmonary capillary blood and alveolar gas are in equilibrium; the data also suggest that the steady-state rebreathing dog preparation may not be completely stable and that the time course of PCO2 and PO2 in the rebreathing bag may not be reliable as a means of assessing the equilibration between blood and bag.